Stand Proud
by Dr. Weird
Summary: AU starting just before the Gaen Cup, rated T for safety. No Buddyfighting. After Kiri wakes up from his coma, he finds himself being thrust into a secret conspiracy involving an organization of humans with strange powers and their shadowed war with Disaster. Let's just say the world isn't ready for the bizarre adventure ahead. It's time to raise the flag... for one hell of a ride.


Hey guys.

This fic is gonna be different from the average card game fanfiction in that there's gonna be one thing prevalent – there will be little to no actual Buddyfighting in this story. Instead, my intention is for their to be character action by characters and Buddy Monsters _outside_ of the game. (*gasp*)

In addition, while this will NOT be a crossover, there will be many hints and references to _Shin Megami Tensei: Persona_ (mostly 3 and 4) and _JoJo's Bizarre Adventure_ (especially from Part 3: Stardust Crusaders onward), among other series' elements. You'll know when you see them.

To clarify, this will be a fairly slight AU, starting at just before the Gaen Cup takes place.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 1: Opening Hand

* * *

It was the day before the Gaen Cup was scheduled to begin. The sky was mostly clear with the occasional group of clouds dotting the sky. The citizens of Chou Tokyo were going about their days, travelling down different streets by foot or vehicle, and even the occasional Buddy Skill.

It seemed like a very peaceful, lively city day, which betrayed the fact that something sinister was looming in the shadows.

Gao Mikado, who went by his inherited moniker of "The Mighty Sun Fighter", could only stare sadly at his sleeping friend Kiri Hyoryu, who was still unconscious in a light coma after defeating/saving him while under the guise of the Grim Reaper – Disaster's agent for harvesting Buddy Monsters for a yet unknown reason.

Beside him were his Buddy, the Dragon World monster Drum Bunker Dragon [Fang Slade Terrestrial XIII] in his diminutive form, and Stella Watson, a member of the Buddy Police, who was sitting in a chair beside Kiri's bed. She was in the midst of peeling a red apple with a small knife.

Laying on Kiri's night table was Kiri's Asgard-theme Legend World deck, face-up, with the card of his current Buddy – Ice Blade, Joker – resting on top. Ever since Kiri had been rescued and Disaster's spell broken on them, Joker was surprisingly competent and concerned for Kiri's well-being, resting silently in his card by his Buddy's side. An IV drip hung on a stand, dripping into Kiri's exposed right arm, where the light blue haired boy rested on his bed, his hair exposing his left eye and covering his right – Gao concluded it was just a new look, but Kiri _had_ been different with that look employed.

"So still no word on Kiri's condition?" Gao could only ask sadly. He clenched his partially bandaged fist in frustration; Drum could tell his Buddy's frustration, golden eyes looking down on the floor in thought.

"I'm afraid not yet." Stella sighed. "Strictly speaking he's stable, and sustained no injuries. The doctor believes it's just severe exhaustion – his evaluation says that Kiri's shown signs of poor sleeping for a couple of days; it's possible Disaster had him collecting Buddy Monsters without rest."

This only served to make Gao's blood boil. "Those jerks…! To make Kiri go through all this…!" Drum raised his hand and clutched his Buddy's clenched hand.

"Don't you worry, kid. We'll make sure we pay those losers back for Kiri's sake. But the Gaen Cup's around the corner and we haven't a moment to lose. Baku and Kuguru still haven't worked on our team's decks yet, and we said we'd meet back at the house."

Gao mentally slapped himself on that note and gave off a light smile. "You're right, Drum. We'd better get going Miss Stella."

Stella nodded and smiled warmly. "I'll be here to keep an eye on Kiri. If Mr. Takihara's theory is correct, it's possible that Disaster might come after Kiri, so one of us will be keeping watch for his sake." He smile intensified with a sense of determination. "We'll keep him out of their reach. Focus on winning the tournament."

Drum chuckled a bit. "Well, kid, you heard the lady. Let's fly." Gao nodded before turning to face the door, looking over his shoulder. ' _Hang in there, man. This is for you._ ' With that, the duo departed and headed out the door in a hurry. Stella could only giggle at their enthusiasm.

"Kiri, you're so lucky to have a friends like Gao. I'm sure they'll do a great job, and bring Disaster to justice. So for now, get some rest."

After finishing cutting up the peeled apple and disposing of the core, Stella felt his business phone vibrate. As a Buddy Police officer, she has two phones – one for her personal life and one for active duty. As such, her phones were different colors: her Buddy Police phone, standard issue, was a rosy red, and her personal phone was a metallic blue.

Seeing that it was against hospital rules to answer phones in a patient's hospital room, the British-born 19 year old rushed to answer her call, closing the door behind her.

It was then Kiri began to show signs of stirring. However, his face seemed to be showing signs of a bad dream, light moaning escaping his closed lips.

Little did he know, that through his exposed, open window, someone was watching.

* * *

Darkness. Darkness was all he saw, whether he looked up, down or all around. It was like he was suspended in a bizarre mix of swirling blacks and purples churning like soapy water.

"Hello? Anyone…?" Kiri called out, only to be met with a slight echo. Kiri's dipped as he called out again with more force. He was in his normal clothes, with his trademark lilac and blue jacket hung on his shoulders.

"Hello?! Anyone?! Gao?! Drum?! Joker?!" The echo lingered, but soon faded into nothingness. "No one's here… I'm alone."

It was then that Kiri found himself to be proven wrong, for a sudden chill crept up his spine and caused the blunette to spaz slightly, the shiver seizing him.

But this shiver had to temperature. It wasn't of heat or cold. Kiri knew this feeling well.

It was _fear_. Someone… or some _thing_ … was watching him. Kiri looked around frantically, searching for any sign of life, only to be met with nothing.

" _ **You cannot run, boy.**_ " Came a dark, booming voice that reverberated in Kiri's eardrums, causing Kiri's eyes to shrink. His breath was caught in his throat. He dared not turn around, but his body seemed to be compelled to turn Arching his neck over his shoulder, Kiri's heart nearly stopped as he was locking eyes with a sinister pair of demonic red eyes, with purple detail lines painted around the glowing peepers.

Wasting no time, the former Grim Reaper bolted forward as ran as fast as his legs allowed him, desperate to escape the eyes. Kiri knew. Those very eyes… he had seen them before.

Kiri flashed back to when he met Davide Yamazaki when he transferred to Fumiya Daini Elementary. When he gave him the Dark Core.

He _definitely_ remembered those eyes, the horrid feeling of their gaze peering, bleeding, violating the recesses of his soul with their malevolent gaze.

It was those eyes – something they did – that made him tint darker – becoming hungry for power and victory. Kiri knew if those eyes caught him, it was over. He would be ensnared by the darkness, and this time, might not make it out again.

Disregarding the infinite void surrounding him, Kiri ran. By God, he ran. The eyes were following him off course, but Kiri had a decent lead from them.

Then suddenly a second pair of eyes opened into being, glaring with untold malice. Kiri skidded slightly and darted to his left, only for a third pair to black his path.

The eyes from the third pair began to rise and converge with the other two pairs, almost forming a triangular shape far above the blunette.

A powerful gust exploded forth as the eyes' purple contours began to bleed into the form of a humongous, evil-looking three-headed dragon easily towering Kiri like a giant to an ant.

Kiri tried to bolt, but found he couldn't move. His feet felt like lead, as it glued in place. "C'mon, move! MOVE!"

" **It is useless, boy. You cannot escape. The Dark Core has chosen you. It has marked you with my power. You can no longer escape your fate.** "

Kiri, despite his growing fear, glared back. "Gao destroyed my Dark Core! The chains binding me to Disaster were severed!"

The gargantuan dragon, instead of retorting angrily, gave an amused guttural chortle from its three heads, the glowing eyes sneering.

"What's so funny?!" Kiri yelled, annoyed. The dragon goliath responded by pointing a clawed digit from its right hand at the boy.

" **By 'chain'… are you referring to the one around your neck?** "

Barely having an instant to look down at his neck, seeing a large golden spiked manacle clamped around his throat connected by a long golden chain, Kiri felt himself being yanked forward to the ground, his body being dragged towards the dragon's feet. There a small, abyssal hole of swirling, bubbling darkness boiled forth, and an eye not unlike that seen on a Dark Core blinked to life, suspended above the hole and eyeing its prize.

" **You belong to Disaster now and forever. And this time… I will see to it that you** _ **bury**_ **Gao Mikado with your own hands!** "

Shock and fear flooded Kiri as he desperately tried to pull off the neck shackle and run, but his mind began to panic as he stopped feeling his legs, and that he was slowly losing the feeling in his arms.

"No! This… can't be happening!" The dragon responded with unholy, booming evil laughter that threatened to dye and drown Kiri's very soul in the deepest shade of black.

" _GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOO!_ "

Just before Kiri's head touched the frothing pitch where the Dark Core's eye was levitating, a powerful eruption of freezing wind erupted from his body, thick dark blue ice springing forth from his neck and travelling up the chain and into the pit, causing ice to fill and rupture the hole, then shoot up to pierce the Dark Core eye.

The dragon howled in sudden pain as the eye shattered into many frozen pieces before more of the chills erupted from Kiri's body and struck the beast in the chest, ice erupting and encasing it in a thick layer of permafrost. The dragon tried to block the stream of cold wind, but the chill began to creep up its arms and up the side heads of the dragon, expressions frozen in shock and fear.

The central head jerked wildly as ice crept its neck, letting out a horrid roar as ice finally froze the whole of the dragon, the beast's black scaling tinting blue from the sheer cold.

Kiri could only watch in amazement as the dragon's frozen body began to crack wildly until the whole glacier shattered, the dragon inside crumbling to pieces before it dispelled into a cool frosty mist, ice and all. The chain and collar also shattered, freeing the blunette.

It was strange. For a moment he feared for his life, being pulled into the darkness by… that _thing_ … then all of a sudden, he felt a great, indescribable surge of power from within him that just burst out and viciously attacked the dragon, banishing it from his sight. And the snowy mist that remained…

Kiri could quite understand, but this mist felt… familiar to him. It was comforting. Embracing. Like he was being caressed in a tender hug. Even the swirling darkness began to dissipate, replacing itself with a field of snow, stretching as far as the eye could see in any direction.

Kiri, finally being able to stand up, looked around in wonder. He always did love snow. After turning around, that was when he saw it.

It was vague, obscured by snowy mist veiling its form, and was quite a ways away from him. He tried to approach it, but the snowy gales became more intense, blowing into his face and obscuring more of his vision.

He could see that the figure was walking away from him, and the gales were becoming stronger. "Wait! Who are you?!"

The figure stopped and slowly turned its head. Kiri's eyes widened when he was able to get a better look.

All he could really see was a very feminine figure in a warrior dress of some kind with a sizable sword at her left hip. She had fair-length spiky ice blue hair that blanketed from her right temple and covered most of the left side of her head and snowflake ornaments in her hair. A long, billowing cape billowed wildly from her exposed shoulders and neck cloth.

What really got his attention her eyes. They reminded him of his own eyes, only they were a stunning icy blue – that much he could see through the blizzard, as if they were shining turquoise gems.

"The time is coming soon." The woman spoke out in a young yet authoritative voice. "Very soon you will awaken."

"Awaken?! What are you talking about?!" Kiri tried to yell back, but the icy wails of the blizzard merely intensified.

The woman smiled softly, a somewhat sly look in her face as she touched her chin to the front of her neck. "I await the time you will call for me.., _My Master_."

"Master…?!" Kiri asked aloud before the blizzard finally overtook Kiri and all became white.

* * *

Kiri's eyes snapped open and raised his torso from his bed, panting a bit. "Was… that all just a dream…?"

At that moment a sudden chill billowed forth from his right, and the top card of his deck glowed a brilliant light as his Buddy, Ice Blade, Joker materialized with his trademark "FRRRREEEEEEZE!" Kiri chuckled a little at the sudden reminder that Joker was still with him at Disaster's headquarters at the Fuji Metal Mines when he lost to Gao.

"So you've finally woken up, Sleeping Beauty! Everyone was getting worried about you, you know. That Gao kid and his Buddy were here, and even that nice Buddy Police girl was cutting you up some apples. Their kindness and care for you really gives me thrills _and_ chills!"

Kiri chuckled a little inwardly. To think that Gao really didn't give up on him – that he'd still consider him a friend after all he did… maybe… maybe he was wrong about Gao. He knew he had to make it up to the Mikado boy soon.

Suddenly, Kiri noticed something in the corner of his eye. A blue-colored envelope rested precariously on the end of his night table, next to his deck. "What's this?"

Noticing the envelope, Joker cocked his head. "That's weird. That wasn't there before…"

Becoming curious, Kiri noticed the front of the letter displayed his name.

It read "To Mr. Kiri Hyoryu" in English on one row, and Japanese right under it. Other than that, the handwriting looked mechanical – like it was printed off a computer. Flipping over the envelope, Kiri noticed the sticker on the center of the back.

It was a navy circle with a silver rim with a central stark-white star reaching out to the edges. In the center of the star was a stylized white 'V'. Curious, Kiri undid the seal and pulled out an ornate letter, and proceeded to read the contents.

 _To Mr. Kiri Kyoryu,_

 _The organization known as 'Disaster' is more dangerous than you realize. The Buddy Police hang by a thread. The upcoming Gaen Cup harbors a terrible secret, which threatens to throw the balance into chaos._

 _This is a battle where Buddyfights won't be able to do anything. Only those with 'the potential' have a chance to stop what is about to happen._

 _If you want to learn more, come to where the wolf in sheep's clothing first led you to the land of the warring states._

 _Sincerely,_

' _Vanto'_

Kiri took a moment to process the information. "The… Gaen Cup…" He remembered hearing this off-hand from Kyouya himself when he was the Grim Reaper. Something about a tournament where the best teams of Buddyfighters faced off for some kind of experiment.

Then it dawned on him. ' _Gao!_ '

Kiri paled for a moment. No doubt Kyouya had Gao and some of the others in his sights. It was just too perfect. That, and he didn't know what happened to Tasuku after he passed out at the mines after Gao defeated him.

The blunette suddenly felt a slight moving shift on his fingers, and flipped the letter over to see there was a photograph attached. Kiri's brow furrowed slightly, but he couldn't help being a bit curious.

He cast a gaze at the photo, and could feel his breath become trapped in his throat. The picture was of Kyouya Gaen – a side profile, anyway – apparently speaking to someone. Trailing his eyes to the left, Kiri's jaw slacked slightly as he saw that the Gaen head was speaking to a mass of reddish flame being exuded by three pitch-black dragon heads, each with burning red eyes and four horns.

Kiri gulped. He recognized those heads from his dream. ' _Could that have been Kyouya's Buddy?_ ' He also took notice of the two figures far away from the dark duo, who stood a few steps away from a large oak door. Kiri recognized this room must have been Kyouya's office at the Gaen Building, and one of the men by the door was none other than Elf Kabala. But the other man…

The other man, who was slightly shorter than the flamboyant eldest member of Disaster, was shrouded in a long dark green trench coat with a tall collar and a tailored hood veiling the unknown's face. Kiri couldn't place it, but something about this picture seemed off…

At that moment, Kiri heard the wobbling of the doorknob – someone was coming in. Hiding the letter and such under his pillow instinctively, Joker returned to his card as the boy laid back down in his bed, feigning sleep.

Stella appeared from the other side of the door as she opened it, peering in to see Kiri asleep. Smiling meekly, she whispered "Get better." Before closing the door again behind her.

Opening his visible eye to see if the coast was clear, Kiri slowly crept out of his hospital bed, grabbed his clothes – which were neatly folded on the chair beside him and entered his room's bathroom, which was beside the door. But not before grabbing a slice or two of the cut apple by his bedside and munching it down.

Kiri knew that it was very risky what he was doing. He was no doubt under potential suspicion from the Buddy Police for his deeds as the Grim Reaper, and if what he heard off-hand from Davide and Kyouya were of any indication, there were moles within the force that answered directly to Disaster.

There was also the matter of Stella being right outside the door to the hallway. Despite how he could vaguely hear her speaking on the phone – with Takihara, maybe? – it would be foolish to go out the door. His only other option was the window. Despite being on the fifth floor, it would be effortless for him and Joker to escape using their Buddy Skill. The only calculated risk would be that he could still be seen or tracked via his Buddy Skill (an airborne child and ice demon-like creature flying around in broad daylight was pretty hard to miss, especially with their color schemes).

There was a good chance Stella would know he left and might arrange for Kiri to be found, but if this contents of the letter he received were true, then…

Kiri smacked his cheeks lightly as he finished draping his jacket over his shoulders and shook his head with some vigor. ' _No. If there's some way I can make this right, I need to take it. Not just for the others and those I've wronged… but for myself._ '

"Joker." Kiri breathed giving the order. Joker couldn't help but chuckle.

"You sure about this? There's a chance it could go south really quick if you leave." The Legend World monster jeered slightly, but also with a note of worry. Despite having been partnered via Disaster, the Asgard monster couldn't help but feel some attachment to Kiri.

Kiri nodded. "And what if Disaster's moles 'acquire' us? Ms. Stella wouldn't be able to do a thing."

It was a good thing that Joker didn't need Kiri to have a Core Gadget to use his Buddy Skill, or they'd be in a real pickle. Joker chuckled to himself, musing that Disaster did something right for him after all.

As Kiri opened the sliding window and pivoted himself for a leap, Joker turned into his light form and flew out the window as Kiri jumped, rematerializing and activating Kiri's Buddy Skill, a blue crescent moon with stylized cut-outs, the crescent arcing form his right shoulder to his left hip.

The two flew off – Joker remaining in card form in Kiri's pocket as the blunette travelled several blocks towards the downtown proper before touching down on a sidewalk near the Nijikoro marketplace and walked westward, his destination a mere three blocks away.

" _Hey Kiri, why not just fly all the way there?"_ Joker's voice permeated.

"Call it insurance. I'm not sure if the Buddy Police can track Buddy Skills or not, or if they can do it without tracking their Core Gadget. And besides, there's several in the area that my pursuers might think I'd be headed." Kiri hummed. "The Nijikoro market, for example. It's probably where Stella got that apple, since it's on the way from her workplace."

"Is that a fact…" Joker mused from within his card. "So, where exactly are we headed?"

Kiri's visible eye hardened as he picked up the pace. "If the letter is of any indication..." the blunette trailed, resuming his thoughts. ' _If by 'wolf in sheep's clothing' it meant Rouga, then 'warring states' refers to Sengoku. Which means it's telling me to go_ _ **there**_ _._ '

Still something really bothered him. "Hey, Joker. You didn't happen to see who dropped off the letter, did you?"

"Afraid not; I was actually taking a snooze until Gao and Drum showed up, so I never bothered to look around until they left." The Asgard monster replied in earnest. "It's actually kinda odd, really. You'd think that Stella might've seen it."

"Hm. That _is_ odd… But something else bothers me. Aside from those who travelled to Sengoku Academy when Rouga brought me there, no one else should have known Rouga picked me up at Kakinori Park. So whoever this 'Vanto' is…"

"I'd say we should be on our toes, but… you already knew that didn't you?" Joker urged.

Turning the corner on Setsuna Street, Kiri finally made it to his destination – Kakinori Park, where Rouga had brought him to Sengoku Academy. Entering the playground proper he looked around only to see absolutely no one there.

"No one's here… I don't like this…" Kiri muttered under his breath. That changed when Kiri felt a slight change in the atmosphere. It wasn't like the temperature was changing or the light outside was different, but… Kiri, for whatever reason, could feel it. It resounded from within his small frame and made his mind feeling like it's registering danger.

"I know you're there, show yourself!" Kiri called out. There was a poignant pause in the air for a few seconds, until finally a metronome-like clapping could be heard. Kiri turned and was surprised to see a tall, human figure leaning against the bordering wall along the playground's tall rim.

"I didn't expect you to actually come so soon. You must've given your 'security' the slip. Nice job." This figure, definitely a young man perhaps in his mid-20s, wearing a gray sleeveless hoodie shirt with the hood up and zipped up halfway, which had revealed a light blue t-shirt underneath. He wore dark blue jeans, a black belt and black knee-high boots.

A pair of chains were hanging and off of either side of his pants. His left forearm was covered in a black cloth armband, and he wore skin-tight black leather gloves that extended well past the wrists, ringed with thick metal cuffs. He wore thin sunglasses that only revealed his razor-thin eyebrows.

Kiri's eyes hardened. "Are you Vanto?" The older man shrugged.

"Yes… and no." Kiri cocked his head slightly. "You see, Vanto is our group's name. There is no one person named Vanto."

Kiri proceeded to fish out the picture he had in his pocket. "This photo. Is this photo real? That the monster next to Kyouya is-" "I can tell you that that photo is 100% genuine. I take it you're interested in what that photo means?"

"How were you even able to take this picture. I doubt Disaster would've let anyone with a Buddy Skill just take a photo into his office without dealing with them. They would've been seen. Or detected."

The other man smirked, unnerving Kiri slightly. Removing his hood to reveal erratic and curly brown hair with a large tuft draping the left side of his forehead and eyebrow, he pulled down his thin sunglasses with one hand to the bottom of his nose bridge. His eyes were an icy blue and were roofed by short and thin black eyebrows that sharpened at the edges.

"Very true. But what if I were to tell you that this picture… _wasn't_ accomplished by use of a Buddy Skill? What if was another kind of skill people could use?"

Kiri's eyes widened a bit. "How could anyone take this picture without a Buddy Skill? This is clearly from outside his office – you can see the reflections off of the windowpane. Plus, I was told he didn't have cameras in his office room."

"I'll answer your question with another question. Have you been having weird dreams lately? Or have you been feeling like your perception of life has become sharper?" the unknown male inquired as he fixed his glasses.

"How did-?! Well, the dreams, anyway. Ever since I was given that Dark Core, even though I was clouded by it… I could feel this strange power growing inside me. Something that felt different than the Dark Core's power, and yet…"

"It felt natural to you, didn't it?" The brunette asked again. "You felt that this power made you feel empowered, not unlike the Dark Core. But it felt more like it was _your_ power, not that contraption's."

"Y-yeah! You know what it is?!" Kiri asked. At this point, Joker materialized next to his Buddy.

"This is the first I'm hearing about this." Joker quipped, feigning being hurt. Turning to the newcomer. "But first, who are you, really? You know my and my Buddy's names, but we don't know yours."

The brunette gave a small, condescending smile. "My name isn't important right now. But if you insist, I go by the codename 'Umbral'."

You couldn't tell Joker's expression, but you could feel his slight disappointment. "That's a pretty lame codename if you ask me. Not very _cool_ at all."

Umbral chuckled. "Well I wasn't expecting a _Buddy Monster_ to understand human aesthetics." Joker reciprocated by crossing his bladed arms and huffing, turning up his chin in a mock pout.

"Fine. See if I care." Despite saying it and feigning care, Joker was slightly hurt by that comment.

"He's a real piece of work, isn't he?" Umbral joked, arms akimbo.

Kiri sighed. "More like a work in progress. Anyway, you still haven't answer my question. How did you get this photo? And what does this have to do with me? Do you know what Disaster's really planning?"

Umbral paused for a second before heaving a sigh. "We might wanna find a place to sit down. Because this is a _long_ story."

* * *

" _So how's Kiri doing?_ " questioned the voice of Commander I from Stella's cell phone as she walked away from the reception desk on the ground floor. It was a hospital rule that cell phones could not be used in patient rooms or in the hallways of the fourth to seventh floors, so Stella had to take her call to the first floor lobby.

"He's resting, sir. So far he's shown no real side effects of using the Dark Core other than exhaustion. His Buddy - Ice Blade, Joker – has been very cooperative in giving us any information he has on Disaster and their plans. Suffice it to say… it's not much. He's been brainwashed as bad as Kiri was, and had been resting the whole time until Gao and Drum arrived. We're still well in the dark about Disaster's plans."

" _This isn't good. The Gaen Cup starts in a couple of days, and Nobari has the entire force shackled to his every whim. That makes it difficult to keep an eye on our good old friend Mr. Gaen. At the very least, Kiri's being disregarded as collateral damage at the moment, so he won't be charged for the theft of Buddy monsters thanks to the previous accounts of Dark Core – not even Examiner Shidou can overturn that._ "

Stella could literally taste the annoyance in her boss's voice. But at the very least, thanks to the accounts of Totsuo Doai and Shosetsu Kirisame, Kiri's possession by the Dark Core has been considered by the higher-ups of the Japanese government as legitimate, and not as a hoax.

' _At least for now. With Nobari at the wheel, who knows what he's doing to the Buddy Police?_ ' Stella thought bitterly. ' _Speaking of which… better check on him._ '

Reaching the fifth floor on the elevator, Stella stepped out and walked down the disturbingly sterile hospital corridor and finally reached Kiri's room. Phone subconsciously still in hand, Stella opened the door slowly, expecting to see Kiri in bed.

To her surprise however, Kiri was nowhere to be seen. Quickly running to the bathroom door only to see it open and the light off, Stella began to pale. She nearly burst out of the room and hurried over to the reception desk.

"Miss, is everything alright?" asked the receptionist nurse, a young 20-something-year old woman with cropped brown hair reaching her chin and a couple of freckles on the left side of her bottom lip and coffee-colored eyes.

"Did you see anyone go in or come out of Room 508?" Stella asked worriedly in a rushed tone. The receptionist blinked.

"Um, sorry, I didn't. Is something wrong?" the receptionist asked. Stella placed her palms on the edge of the work desk.

"I need to see the security footage for Room 508 and the hallway right now – it's urgent!"

The receptionist blinked in mild surprise. "Miss, I don't have the authority to show visitors hospital footage – I'd get in a lot of trouble-"

"Then who can? Ah, hold on a second…" Stella mumbled as she fished out her badge and ID for the receptionist to see. "Stella Watson, Buddy Police. Kiri Hyoryu is a person of interest in an ongoing case and I was assigned to maintain his security." Stella did her best to exercise authority without scaring the poor older woman.

"N-now hold, miss. I'll try to get in contact with Dr. Mikamura – he's the head doctor on duty for the non-emergency patients… Hello, Doctor? This is Sachiko Mioda at the fifth floor's nurse's desk. I have a 'Stella Watson' from the Buddy Police requesting security footage regarding room 508… Yes, she has ID… Yes? Wait, is that true? Oh, boy…"

Stella began to sweat. "Oh no, what is it?" The nurse gave a nervous look.

"I think you should hear it from him. Doctor, I'm handing over the phone." said Sachiko as he handed over the hospital line to the half-British girl.

" _Is this Stella Watson of the Buddy Police. My name is Dr. Isao Mikamura, and I must apologize for the inconvenience. There's been an ongoing hospital-wide system upgrade we've been planning on for almost four months now that we've finally started working on as of two days ago. Today the technicians are working on the surveillance systems and emergency lines, so the cameras on each floor had to be disabled for about two hours to replace old software. Wait… is a patient missing?!_ "

"We believe so…" Stella replied with a worried tone. "Miss. Sachiko, is there a way to verify with other on-duty staff on this floor is Kiri was seen?"

"One moment, please." Sachiko pulled out an intercom speaker and pressed a blocky white tab.

- _ **ALL AVAILABLE FIFTH FLOOR PERSONNEL, PLEASE REPORT TO THE NURSE'S DESK**_ -

In a matter of minutes, nurses, doctors and a couple of custodians hurried over from either side of the wing, each with a questioning look on their faces.

"Stella Watson from the Buddy Police. By any chance has the patient from room 508 been moved or seen with other visitors."

"Is something wrong?" asked a male nurse with shaggy steely brown hair and hazel eyes – Junpei Marino, according to his ID.

"Room 508's patient, Kiri Hyoryu, is missing from his hospital room. Did anyone happen to see him leave his room with anyone?"

All the staff exchanged looks and murmurs before all nodding the negative.

"I don't think anyone's entered or left the floor save for you in the last ten minutes, Miss Watson." Sachiko piped up. "Should I call the police?"

"No, I'll handle that. For all we know, a Buddy Skill of some kind might be involved here. Leave it to me; forgive me for breaking hospital rules, but I have to make a call."

"Wait… didn't Kiri Hyoryu have a Buddyfight deck on his night table?" Junpei inquired. "And if the Buddy Police is involved, doesn't that also mean he might have a Buddy and Skill of his own?"

It suddenly dawned on everyone standing there simultaneously attaining an "Oh Crap!" moment as a good chunk of the adults present, Stella at the head, rushed to Room 508 – the scene of the supposed crime.

After better inspection, Stella noticed that the window was open and the latches undone, a light breeze entering the room and the curtains wafting. She also noticed that Kiri's change of clothes left on the chair and a couple of apple pieces that she had previously left on the night table were both missing.

Stella gasped. "Did Kiri… leave on his own?" Kiri Hyoryu, according to the official records, did not have a Buddy or Buddy Skill prior to his forced ties to Disaster. However, it was Ice Blade, Joker's own admission that he willingly considered himself Kiri's Buddy, even after being free of Disaster's hold on both of them. Does that mean that he suddenly gave Kiri his Buddy Skill and they flew off?

This was bad! Not only was Ice Blade, Joker not registered as a legal Buddy to Kiri in the Buddy Police database, but because Joker's unique identification data was also not in their database, they couldn't pinpoint his Buddy Skill even if they tried!

Stella placed a hand to her head as she started to become woozy. Kiri left the hospital under her watch, which made her responsible for watching him. What if he was still under Disaster's control somehow, and the two were returning to their stronghold? Oh, if Nobari ever found out about this…!

Regardless, she had to make a call now, before things escalated even further. She couldn't call Commander I or Takihara yet, while Nobari's eyes and ears were everywhere in the Buddy Card Office, even though they'll have to be told eventually.

Stella blinked to herself in surprise. ' _Wait! There is_ _ **one**_ _person I could call… it's better than giving Nobari an excuse to incarcerate Kiri_.'

Immediately pulling out her personal phone she fingered through her contacts until she reached the name she was looking for. She took a deep breath, and when no one was looking, pressed the dial button.

The dial tone rang out in her ear a couple of times, the wait putting her on edge.

The blond 19-year old cupped her free hand to the speaking end of her phone as she whispered into it.

"Jin, this is Stella. I need your help."

* * *

"Come on, kid, we're gonna be late!" Drum hollered as he ran down Seito Street and deeper into the suburbs, Gao not too far behind. "If we wait any longer, Baku will have eaten all of the octopus balls Granny was making!"

"Even Baku couldn't have been able to eat all of them, Drum! But you're right; time's a wasting on deck making!" Gao exclaimed giddily as he fastened his hat.

As they ran down the street they failed to notice Jin Magatsu and his Buddy – Evil in Heart, Yamigitsune – pass by them on the other side of the street, no thanks to the van that separated them. Standing besides the two was Megumi Mamakari, arms crossed.

"Kiri's gone missing?" Jin gawked incredulously. "Seriously, someone should consider putting a leash on that kid."

" _Now's not the time for jokes, Jin. We have to make sure that he wasn't kidnapped by Disaster. Takihara and I already had one hell of a conversation with his parents to keep them from going overboard, so we've got to find him fast or things will seriously escalate._ " Stella concluded over the phone.

"Alright, but one question: Are you _positive_ Kiri left on his own?" Jin inquired. After receiving an answer affirming the positive, Jin nodded. "Got it. I'll get Yamigitsune on his scent."

"I'm a fox, not a dog." Yamigitsune huffed in is raspy tone, feigning a pout. "Still, it's better than the alternative."

"The last thing Gao's group needs is learning Kiri's gone missing. If the Gaen Cup is what we think it's going to be, then everyone in our corner's gonna need to be at their top game." Megumi noted. "Especially when Gao's so easy to fire up."

"Hang on… I think I have a lock on his essence." quipped Yamigitsune as he took a few steps towards downtown. Placing a hand on his fox mask, he titled his neck back a little. "Found him, or at least his direction."

"So he's in the city." Jin remarked. His Buddy nodded to the affirmative. " It's in the direction of the hospital."

"Near the hospital? Why would he be so close to where he escaped from?" Megumi asked, pondering.

"There's not much near where the hospital is in terms of landmarks, save around the Nijikoro market and…" Jin waned as he came to a startling conclusion, the though evident in his surprised expression, followed by his sudden sprinting. "Kakanori Park." The other two followed almost instinctively.

"Isn't that where Rouga 'kidnapped' Kiri and brought him to Sengoku Academy? Why there?" Megumi asked as the trio turned the corner.

"I don't know, but I can faintly sense that someone is with him." Yamigitsune commented. Jin didn't like the sound of that.

"It's not someone from Disaster, is it?" ""No… it's not someone I'm familiar with – and I don't sense a Buddy with them other than Joker, but… we need to hurry."

"Why?" Megumi asked.

"Something about this person with Kiri… feels very off." Yamigitsune concluded with a grim tone. "I don't like the way it feels." Jin's eyes narrowed.

"We better hurry, then." The trio picked up the pace.

* * *

Kiri and Umbral were sitting on either end a bench on the playground's side, Umbral leaning forward in his seat, wrists resting on his shins. Kiri was staring at his hand in a sort of interest.

"So, given what I told you… do you believe me?" Umbral asked, olive-green eyes peering from the corner of his sunglasses. "I won't blame you if you think I'm crazy."

Kiri hummed in the negative. "No… what you say makes sense. If what you say what the 'symptoms' are… then it's possible I _do_ have a… what did you call it again?"

Umbral returned his spine to the upright position. "A _Stand_. It's the metaphysical manifestation of a human's spirit and innermost qualities given empowerment and form. Though to be honest, it's not very common for someone so young – and one who's not accustomed to fighting – to develop a Stand so quickly."

"You're right." Kiri said with a mirthful chuckle. "I'm not exactly the brawling type. I'm nowhere near as athletic or strong as you say I would need to be, and I don't have that kind of stamina. Not like Gao, anyway."

Umbral perked at that. "You mean your friend, Gao Mikado?" This caught Kiri's attention.

"You know Gao? I thought you didn't care about Buddyfighting." "Very true – I know him for his martial arts championships. I've witnessed his use of Mikado-style akijujitsu at last year's national championship. He's pretty impressive. But I wonder if he'd be able to handle a Stand."

"What makes you say that?" Kiri asked. At that Umbral stood up.

"Try and punch me. Both of you."

Kiri and Joker exchanged surprised looks. "What did you say? I could've sworn I heard something crazy." Joker remarked incredulously.

Umbral shook his head. "No, you heard right. Try and hit me." Kiri shook his head.

"Why would you want me to-" " _Just_ _ **do it**_. You'll see first-hand what I mean."

Sharing a reluctant exchanging glance, Kiri and Joker reared and readied themselves. "I still don't like this…" the Asgard monster groaned.

Kiri honed in with a one-two combo, which Umbral sidestepped. The hooded young man tilted his head back to avoid Kiri's high punch, then bent his stomach inward to avoid Kiri's spin kick.

Suddenly Umbral felt a chill from his back; instinctively he ducked under Joker's left inward chop and rolled to the side dodge Joker's downward right swing.

"Surely you two can do better." Umbral jeered, a small smile on his face. "Come at me with the intent to kill! It's key to master that to control a Stand." He shot up and gave a high whirlybird kick to Joker's left cheek using the side of his foot, nearly sending him flying.

Recovering, Joker nearly shouted out "How can you move like that in high boots?!" Umbral merely responded with "Lots of practice."

Kiri fired a sequence of four punches –left jab, right face punch, left inward neck chop, right palm thrust into the solar plexus – all of which failed to hit their mark save for the last one, causing Umbral to hack in surprise as he tried to gasp for air, all while maintaining his footing.

Seizing his chance, Kiri came in for a left sidekick to Umbral's head, while Joker crossed his forearms to attack with a double-bladed swing (with the back of his blades, of course), while Kiri's right fist was rearing for a punch.

Essentially, if Umbral's back on both sides could be hit and an incoming kick was coming at him from his right front, his only chance was ducking out to his left – provided Kiri didn't lean into his kick and hammer Umbral's face hard with a powerful right punch.

The icy duo mentally cheered ' _Got 'im!_ ', believing they got him. However, that feeling of pride quickly morphed into worry as they both suddenly froze in place, unable to budge a single muscle.

"Wh-what's going on?!" Joker cried out, a slight amount of panic in his voice. Kiri tried moving his kicking leg, but it was like it was suspended in midair. Not just his leg, but every part of his body felt like something was holding it in place.

"What the…?" Kiri found himself stammering. How were he and Joker suddenly unable to move? They thought they had him, unless… Wait, could this had been Umbral's plan all along?

"You look confused. I'll let you look down." Umbral finally stated. Given now they had feeling in their necks Kiri and Joker looked down at the ground and and both gasped.

Kiri saw all three of their shadows merged together from the sunlight, which didn;'t seem like much at first… but then he noticed the glowing purple threads sticking out of the ground and back into the shadows in patches, like it were stitching.

"This, you two, is my Stand; its name is _Slim Shady_. Its power is the ability to manipulate objects or living beings by ensnaring its shadow with special fibers that my Stand produces. It can be used when I step on a shadow, or if my target steps on mine. On its own it's weak due to its limited range, but can be extended under certain conditions." Umbral concluded proudly.

"So, this whole time… you wanted us to get close enough to you to use your Stand?" Kiri asked. "Heh. Pretty good."

"True." Umbral said as he released the Stand, allowing Kiri and Joker to move again. "But all Stands have similar basic rules. For one, to be able to use it requires constant mental training and an elastic mind, in addition to a sound body. Stands can be used in extremely creative ways, you know. I don't often use the stitching variant of Slim Shady's ability – that was to show off."

Umbral's posture and expression became serious. "Of course, you need to understand that Stand users can be extremely dangerous. The Stand user working with Disaster is not someone the Buddy Police or the normal cops could hope to take on directly. It's all the more reason Stand users need to take him down, so that the suits can get a clear shot at Kyouya Gaen."

"So you guys turn to me, is that it? Because I worked for Kyouya in the past?" Kiri inquired coolly. Umbral shook his head.

"No. We had a good idea on your Stand potential for a couple of months now. We only approached you now because this was the biggest window of opportunity we had to get your attention without unwanted eyes and ears on you. And on another note, us." He grinned.

"Besides, I imagined you'd want to get back at Kyouya and Disaster for using you?"

Kiri's eyes flashed at that exact moment before softening and grinning. "Getting back Kyouya _is_ a tempting offer. But the problem remains that the Buddy Police still will be keeping an eye on me, with or without Disaster's cronies. How do you suppose I could get around without surveillance?"

"Simple." Umbral chuckled as he flicked his pointer and middle fingers together and produced a card. "You hold onto this."

Flicking it to Kiri, the blunette caught the card and examined it. "This is…"

It was a Tarot card, to be more specific. It displayed the figure of an elderly man leaning forward, wearing a green robe and a draping cowl of a lighter green and a long white beard-and-moustache flowing to his knees. He held a tall wooden staff in his left hand, and a lit lantern in his right, in front of his face. The man was facing right, a strange smile on his face. The background appeared to be a strange forest, with a starry, moonlit sky as the backdrop.

It was The Hermit.

"Someone in our group has the power to locate Stand users who are close by. And since she's got this thing for fortune-telling, she already figured out your Arcana." said Umbral with grin.

"Arcana…? Like in Tarot?" Kiri asked, perplexed.

"Each Stand can be categorized as being under one of the 22 Major Arcana, which suggests the capabilities of that Stand. Since yours appears to be the Hermit… I imagine your Stand is closely tied to your sense of spiritual health and self-awareness, something The Hermit is all about."

Kiri eyed the card in wonder. Umbral put his hands in his pockets. "Which reminds me. You mentioned the Buddy Police being a problem for you. What about your friends?"

This brought Kiri back to reality, who had sported a sullen look. "I… can't be friends with them. Not after what I've done…"

"Really? Have you even asked them that? Seems to me that Gao kid still sees you as his friend." Kiri's expression didn't change. Umbral sighed.

"Look kid, here's one piece of advice. You have friends and family who still care about you – don't push them aside. Don't make the same mistake I did."

This surprised Kiri and Joker, but before they could ask, Umbral stiffened. "Someone's coming, gotta bolt." He was about to turn and dart for his exit.

"Hey wait! How am I supposed to get in contact with you guys?" Kiri called out, but before he knew it, Umbral was already gone. ' _He vanished…_ '

Kiri noticed a small note folded and jutting out of the bench next to him. Curious how that got there, he quickly took a glance at the contents.

- _There's a number written on the card's back; only Stand users can read the ink. Call that number tonight when you're alone. But make sure you think long and hard about this. Our world isn't pleasant_.-

"Well that was certainly something, huh, Kiri? I wonder what spooked hi—Oh, look. We have company." Joker interjected.

Turning his head, Kiri saw Jin, Megumi and Yamigitsune turn the corner across the street. "Huh. Should've known." Said blunette muttered to himself. ' _Maybe Yamigitsune scared him off_.'

By the time the trio came to a stop, Kiri had already pocketed the note out of sight and sat back on the bench, giving the illusion that was already sitting there.

"Kiri! There you are!" Jin huffed out as he caught his breath, one hand on his shin for support.

"I knew I should've been using the track more…" Megumi grumbled to herself, fixing her hair with her fingers. "And I just brushed my hair, too…"

Yamigitsune cast his gaze around the park, giving a light sniff as he craned his head. "The scent's completely gone…" Jin took it as a sign that whoever was with Kiri was long gone, or perhaps was somehow concealing their scent.

"Kiri…" Jin began, annoyed. "The doctors were worried sick, you know. You can't just randomly leave a hospital- people panic when patients go missing."

Kiri merely gave a glance to Joker, as if the two shared an unspoken message. Whatever it was, Joker quickly picked up on it.

Kiri and Joker had the same thought. ' _They were sent after us by the Buddy Police, probably Stella or Mr. Takihara. Better tread carefully._ '

"It's fine, Jin. I was just off for some fresh air, y'know?" Kiri said with a small smile. Of course, Jin could tell it was fake.

"Perhaps if you were on hospital property, I'd understand, but you're almost 6 kilometers from there. You _do_ realize that you're under suspicion, right?" Jin imposed, fully prepared to play that card. "There's the allegation that you had connections to a criminal group, for one. You really should return to the hospital."

Kiri wasn't fooled. Jin could tell. Somehow, that look in Kiri's visible eye was able to read him like a book. He couldn't prove it, but that's just his feeling. Jin felt like he was being put under a microscope, despite Kiri's cool, calm exterior.

"So, Stella sent you, I take it? Her concern's appreciated, but I had no intention of associating myself with Disaster." The Asgard user spoke an icy cool tone. The newcomers were unnerved by this.

The Kiri they were used to was exuberant and rather bubbly. He was a bit dorky, but was a rather pleasant guy to be around. Now…

It was subtle, but it was like even his smiles were freezing to the touch. His eyes were normally such a vibrant violet, but now it was like staring into an amethyst abyss; dazzling, yet dark and distant. His hair even covered the opposite eye, and even the shape of his eyes were hardened and sharp, like blades that could pierce you with their gaze. Even Yamigitsune nearly shuddered from the intensity, if only for a moment.

' _What did Disaster…_ _ **do**_ _to him…?_ ' Jin wondered to himself. He then took a moment to look around at the park. "This is… where…" This was the park where Rouga took Kiri to Sengoku Academy, and started the whole mess with Gao's group's supposed 'rescue mission'.

"If you think I was meeting with someone from Disaster, you're mistaken. I want nothing to do with them." Kiri spoke dejectedly. "It's merely coincidence I chose this park. After all, it's very close to the hospital, so I'm not going very far. It took me 5 minutes to get here by Buddy Skill, it'll take 5 to get back."

"Wait. Your Buddy Skill…?" Megumi butted in,. "But you don't have a Core Gadget assigned to you. How can you use your Buddy Skill?"

It dawned on Jin and Yamigitsune instantly. ' _He doesn't have a Core Gadget?!_ '

Jin's expression became serious. "Show me." Kiri shot him an odd look.

"Why do _you_ care? As long as I have a Buddy I should be able to use our Buddy Skill without a problem, right?" Kiri asked coolly.

"In theory, yes, but in truth, there's reports saying that Buddy Skills are only stable if they're channeled through a Core Gadget. Using one without a Gadget is believed to be risky and can be harmful for the Buddy Monster in question." Megumi piped up, a bit of surprise in her voice. "Not even strong Buddies like Jackknife Dragon or Duel Sieger can use their Buddy Skill on their own for long."

"Really?" Joker inquired, actually intrigued, scratching his head with one of his blades. "This is a first for me. Of course, I didn't exactly come here as a 'normal' Buddy, so I guess I don't know the ropes yet, heh heh heh."

"Even so, we were able to do it a couple of times without my Dark Core. Here, I'll show you." With those words, Kiri's Buddy Skill, manifesting as a blue crescent moon behind his back, came into sight, surprising Jin's group.

"I… don't… believe it…" Jin said stammering, meekly pointing a finger at Kiri. "You're actually doing it."

"I don't know whether to be concerned or impressed." Yamigitsune admitted, adjusting his fox mask with his fingertips. "Still, I'm certain that the Buddy Police will eventually want to know about this."

"I hear that Buddy Skills without Core Gadgets are extremely rare. Easy targets for unwanted publicity." Megumi noted, her arms crossed.

"You think so, huh?" Kiri mused. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd want me to keep this a secret at all costs."

Jin stiffened. "W-What makes you say that?" Kiri's coy smirk didn't change. "Wh-what's with that look, Kiri?"

"I only heard in passing once, but I heard from Kyouya's own mouth that he's got some _inside help_. Stella and Takihara didn't tell you about how the Buddy Police is being controlled behind the scenes?"

Jin and Megumi gasped ever so slightly before Jin put his hands in his pockets and sighed. "So you figured it out, huh? Truth be told, Mr. Takihara and Stella are under a lot of pressure acting as spies for Commander I, who's been ousted as commander. Now Seiichi Nobari runs the show, along with Examiner Sueroku Shidou – President Shidou's father."

Kiri gave a soft 'hmm' as his Buddy Skill disengaged. "I figured it'd be them. Given Examiner Shidou's son is a core member of Disaster, I'm not surprised. That and apparently Nobari and Shidou have worked together in office for a number of years." Before Jin could ask how Kiri knew that, the blunette responded with a curt "Kyouya's surprisingly talkative. I managed to pick up a thing or two from his passing conversation."

"So now we know who to look out for within the force… that just leaves Disaster itself. But that's a story for another day." Jin concluded. "Kiri. We know that someone was with you two earlier. Yamigitsune detected a third scent. And don't say it belonged to a child you met or that you were helping the elderly."

Kiri showed very minute surprise from that, but maintained his cool. "Did you now?"

Yamigitsune crossed his robed arms. "The scent was definitely human, yes, but was… unsettling. It felt different from other humans, even those from Disaster. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?"

Kiri's stare locked as he began to aside a thought to himself, recalling Umbral's sudden departure. ' _Could Yamigitsune have detected Umbral's Stand? Can Buddy Monsters even detect Stands? I wonder if the opposite is true…_ '

Kiri shrugged. "Can't say I know what you were even talking about. We didn't even talk to anyone while we were here. There was a guy yakking on his cell phone earlier, but he was on the other side of the wall. Rambling on about some bet he was having with a friend or something. I wasn't really paying attention."

Jin gave a slight frown, but knew he wasn't getting anything from Kiri. Yamigitsune was also known to be a bit of a hypochondriac on occasion, reacting over the silliest things or being shaken over nothing.

"Alright, but you really do need to get back, Kiri. Otherwise Stella and Mr. Takihara are gonna take it out on me for not bringing you back safely." Jin said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Right. She must've been worried." Kiri chuckled. "Well, better relieve her then."

Kiri began to walk past Jin, who trained a scanning eye on the younger boy. "Kiri."

Kiri stopped and craned his neck towards Jin. "Yeah?"

Jin inhaled a bit through his nose and looked Kiri straight in the eye. "Are you sure you weren't approached by anyone weird?"

Kiri smiled a little, but Jin felt it wasn't a positive smile. "I understand you guys are worried, but I'm pretty sure no one came by that's worth worrying about. Joker."

"Got it." Joker jeered as his eyes flashed for a moment, materializing Kiri's Buddy Skill. "We're heading back now."

"We'll know if you don't go straight there." Jin teased, leading Megumi to elbow his hip. "What was that for?"

"You sound like a perverted uncle, saying it like that." Megumi groaned, urging an almost Muttley-like chortle out of Yamigitsune, earing a moody glare from his Buddy.

Returning his gaze to Kiri and he and Joker were shrinking in the distance he whipped out his cell phone and searched through his contacts, dialing a number. A couple of rings, and he connected. "Hey Stella, it's Jin. Kirir's going to meet you at the hospital."

" _Oh, thank God you found him. I was worried I'd have to talk to his already-worried parents._ " Stella's voice came from the phone." _Wait, isn't he coming back with you?_ "

Jin quickly inhaled and exhaled. "You may want to sit down for this."

"… _What happened?_ " Stella voice reverberated with a serious pang.

"Well…"

* * *

Gao and Drum had just touched down at the end of Nishu Street, a couple of blocks from the Mikado house. They stopped there since her area of residence exercises a very strict 'No Buddy Skill' Zone' spanning several blocks, due to complaints from several elderly neighbors after an incident a year or two ago.

Wasting no time, the duo scurried down the sidewalk to meet up with the others – they were already late after visiting Kiri in the hospital. "C'mon, Drum, we're gonna be late! You know how Kuguru gets when she waits to long!"

"Yeah, I know." Drum huffed. "She'll probably not let us have any of those sandwiches she makes, and boy am I _hungry_!" Being stuck in his mini form with his tiny legs made it harder to actually run around and get far in a short number of steps. "If only I could fly…"

"No way, Drum – remember that crazy old lady who tired to hit you for flying?" Gao retorted. Drum shuddered.

"Yeah – I didn't think being hit by a cane would hurt _that_ much, but that old lady had a nasty swinging arm."

In the midst of their conversation, the duo failed to realize they bumped into someone, and the duo collapsed into their unsuspecting victim.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Gao stuttered as he got up. "We weren't paying attention!"

"Yeah, are you alright?" Drum asked as he got off his rump. That's when the mini Armordragon got a good look at their accidental encounter.

Wearing a hooded sleeveless vest and shirt similar to Kazane's, despite being different colors, dark jeans and tall boots, a rather tall young man with curly brown hair rubbed his head as he tried to stand up. "No, it's okay. I wasn't paying attention."

Drum wasn't quite sure why, but for a second, the young man wearing sunglasses almost looked like he froze for a second upon seeing him and Gao. But that wasn't the only thing he noticed. ' _This scent…_ '

But before he could ask, the man went around them waved a hand behind him. "Sorry, I have to get going. I'm late for something."

"Okay. Sorry about that." Gao called out as the other young man disappeared around the corner. "Alright, Drum, we should get going." However, Drum, barely registered his Buddy's voice as his neck craned to look behind him. "Drum, what's wrong?"

"Huh?" Drum asked aloud, snapping back to reality. "Uh, nothing. Anyway we need to get back home."

Gao chuckled. "Right. Betcha I can beat you there."

The orange and red Armordragon grinned. "You're on. Winner gets the loser's pudding tonight."

And as they darted back home to prepare for the Gaen Cup, Drum couldn't help but wonder about something. ' _That guy… I could've sworn he had Kiri's scent on him. And that strange sensation I felt when he looked at me… it was definitely… supressed killer instinct. Just who the heck_ _ **was**_ _that guy…?_ '

* * *

A block away, Umbral cursed as his jog came to a slowed stop. "Son of a bitch, that was close." There was no doubt in his mind that the duo he bumped into on the way to the hideout was Gao Mikado and his Buddy Monster Drum Bunker Dragon.

How could he have been so careless as to go through the area where the Mikado residence was? Certainly it was the quickest route to the hideout, but it was in te report that Armordragon Buddy Monsters were known to have exceptional senses of smell. The risk that Kiri's scent being on him was very real and Drum could've picked up on that.

Knowing that the Buddy Police members keeping an eye on Kiri would try to figure out what happened when Kiri left his room, it could have put Kiri, himself and even the operation itself at risk.

"That's it… no more all-night study sessions before work days." Umbral cursed as he cupped his forehead with one hand. Reaching into his pocket, he fished out a sleek black smartphone with two silver stripes down the back and navy blue coloring in between them. Thumbing through his contact list, he chose one and dialed it, waiting three rings.

"It's me. Contact has been made. He's been made aware."

A filtered voice came out on the audio end, but it was clearly a young, female voice. " _Understood. And what of his potential? How long until his Stand develops?_ "

Umbral took a mild breath. "With the proper stimulus, I'd wager a week, two tops."

"… _Understood. Anything else to report?_ "

"Kiri's got a large circle of friends, some of which have Buddies and Buddy Skills. Turns out when Kiri left has was tagged by one such friend and Buddy that may have detected my Stand. Said Buddy Monster's aura felt particularly nasty; but then again, I don't know enough about Buddyfighting to actually give a damn on the ins and outs."

" _You_ _ **did**_ _leave a way for him to reach us, right? The boss believes having an ally who's in the organization that_ _ **traitor**_ _ran off to would be a great boon for us_."

Umbral groaned a little. "You do realize he wants nothing to do with them, right? I would also imagine trying to recover Kiri from under the Buddy Police's protection would be a liability case."

" _Perhaps if their precious card game was involved. But for Stand users like_ _that man_ _… he'd rip those coppers apart limb from limb. That's why we need someone like Kiri on our side. I shouldn't have to remind you of what happened the last time the boss was greatly disappointed…?_ "

"Alright, alright, you made you point. I'll let you know when he calls. … One question though. In the likely event Kiri's friends and their Buddies – or the Buddy Police intervene – what should be done. You know how detest using lethal force on civilians."

The voice did not respond for a few moments. " _Then do whatever you deem necessary to keep them from interfering. Personally, I don't care about the method, but we're running short on time. The longer we let_ _ **him**_ _hang with a crowd like Kyouya Gaen's Disaster… the worse this situation is bound to get. Return to headquarters, Umbral – we'll start planning the next step upon your return._ "

"Right. I'll be there in twenty minutes. Umbral out." And with that, the call terminated. Umbral proceeded to look up at the could-dotted sky. "If the Gaen Cup starts tomorrow… then _that_ will have to be when we make out next move."

The next moment, he was gone, with nary but a dim burst of greenish embers where he stood.

* * *

And there you have it, Chapter 1! This took me a while to get done, with a crazy end to my school term and a totally insane summer schedule.

And by the way, this Chapter is 28 pages long on Word. So you can imagine it took me a while.

But I certainly hope you enjoyed it, and will stick around for the eventual Chapter 2.

Bye bye.


End file.
